


The Letter

by Amaria_Anna_D



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 06:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7924474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amaria_Anna_D/pseuds/Amaria_Anna_D
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years ago, a letter was written. Now, through the hands of many friends Steve Rogers is getting a goodbye over seventy years in the making</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Letter

The Letter

 

Peggy kept the letter more as a reminder of those she’d failed than anything else. With each move and each cover change, she’d tucked the envelope carefully in her bag and brought it along. The envelope was so tattered and discolored that it was a wonder it held together at all after so many years. The memory of the day it was handed to her was so clear that it took the talented thief known as Alzheimers to steal it away from her—and even then she had vague impressions of it. Each time Steve visited she had a distinct feeling that she had something for him, but then the thought floated away on the breeze, not landing again until the next time.

Sharon found it when she was cleaning out her aunt’s apartment. It was tucked safely along with her most prized possessions—her favorite pistol, he wedding ring, a strand of pearls that Howard had given her for her fiftieth birthday, and a few treasured pictures of those long gone—just barely peaking out from the velvet lining of her jewelry box. At first Sharon thought it was one that was written by Peggy herself, but the writing was too small and slanted. The hand that wrote it belonged to someone else, but she couldn’t place who. She was almost tempted to tear at the fragile seal and find out, but her conscience got the better of it. Instead, she tucked it away in her suit case to be delivered another day.

Tony was presented the letter a few weeks later, after it was confirmed that Sharon Carter had been helping the “enemy.” He had the agent leave it on the table. A cursory glance was enough for him to confirm that it was far too old to be connected to the current events, and just like that he swept it to the corner of his mind to be dealt with once the world made sense again. He didn’t give a shit where it went from there.

Rhodey stumbled across it in a box of random paper work and miscellaneous junk. It was tucked between pages of a copy of the accords. The damn thing slipped out and skidded across the floor taunting him. He’d gotten more accustomed to the chair, but keeping himself balanced while reaching the whole way down to the tile was a chore. If he wasn’t so stubborn he wouldn’t have bothered with it. After all, Steve wasn’t an Avenger anymore—why should Rhodey care what happened to his mail? When me managed to get it and himself back up, he noticed that the worn seal had given way. He slid it out and perused the faded ink, swearing to himself the whole time.

Sam was given the letter by an “unnamed” friend. A message had made its way too him, and he knew that even as dangerous as it was, he needed to see what was important enough for Rhodey to contact him. With his cap and sunglasses in place, he’d gone to the small locker to retrieve whatever had been left for him. His heart fell when he realized that it wasn’t for him. A part of him had been praying that his former lover had forgiven him and was reaching out. But like the true friend he was, Sam dutifully delivered the letter to its rightful owner.

Steve was just back from a “mission” when he noticed Sam waiting for him. The look on his face was so serious that for a split second, Steve was convinced that someone had died. He was relieved when instead of grim news, he was handed an envelope. It only took a glance for him to realize who had written his name on the outside. Excusing himself, he barricaded himself in his room and traced the gentle curves of his name. Taking a deep breath, he let the piece of paper fall out into his hand.

 

_Dear Steve,_

_If you’re reading this, you’ve made it stateside and I haven’t. Don’t beat yourself up over that. You and I both wanted to volunteer the second we heard Roosevelt on the radio, so you know that I signed up for this. I signed up knowing that I might not making it back, and I made my peace with that the day I put my name on that dotted line. Please don’t spend the rest of your life feeling sorry that you made it out, and I didn’t. Don’t miss me too much. If you can, drink a cold one for me every now and again and flirt with a good looking dame. I think a part of me knew that I was never going to come back from Europe, and knowing that you’re going on being who you are would make me happier than anything else I can think of._

_Honestly, though, the one thing I didn’t see coming was you becoming Captain America. It wasn’t in any of the cards that you or I ever saw laid out in your life. Seeing you that day when you got me out of that camp was the best and worst feeling of my life. The best because I was getting to see you the way I think you were always meant to be, and also because you were saving my ass. The worst because you were right in the middle of the fighting. You weren’t safe back in Brooklyn like you should have been. For me, Hell is a world where Steve Rogers doesn’t exist anymore. With or without those pumped up muscles of yours, you are the center of my life. I love you in so many ways that I can’t even think of how to write them all. You are my best friend and my soul mate all in one. Without you, I would fall to pieces. But your stronger than I ever was. Know that the fact that you are here to read this makes it possible for me to rest in peace. I can go on to whatever is waiting with a smile because you are alive._

_Love,_

_Bucky_

Wiping the tears from his cheeks, Steve folded the letter back up and carefully slipped it back inside the envelope. He tucked it in the drawer next to his bed and got up to go debrief Sam and the others on what he’d found out in South America. Bucky was alive, and they would find a way to rid him of all of the darkness that had been shoved inside of him. When that day came, he would make sure that on no uncertain terms that Buck knew that he didn’t want a world without him either. Until then he had work to do.


End file.
